Midnight Musings
by Medie
Summary: Duncan's thoughts about his lady love


Title: Midnight Musings  
  
Author: Medie  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Spoilers: None that I can think of  
  
Category: Romance, AU  
  
Summary: Duncan MacLeod's late night thoughts  
  
Disclaimers: Duncan isn't mine. If he was, he'd act like the earlier Duncan.   
Less full of himself and less judgemental and Richie'd be alive and well cause  
the real Duncan wouldn't be stupid enough to kill him. But I digress.  
  
Jennifer's not mine either. She's a friend's.  
  
  
**************  
Midnight Musings  
by Medie  
**************  
  
In the midst of night, the darkened loft was silent, the only sounds were that  
of breathing - barely perceptible to human ears - that belonged to the loft's  
two inhabitants who lay quietly. Curled againust each other they snuggled   
beneath the luxuriously comfortable sheets of the large bed.   
  
Though neither moved, only one was actually asleep...Duncan MacLeod was wide   
awake and, lying propped up on one elbow, watching his lover as she slept,   
his dark eyes drinking in the sight of her like a man who hasn't seen water  
for days.  
  
The mortal woman lay on her side, rich red hair splayed out around her on the  
pillow in a curtain of silk, cuddling close to him. Bathed in moonlight,   
Jennifer Fratello smiled in her sleep.  
  
"God, you're beautiful," he told her in a voice so soft even he couldn't be   
sure it was an actual vocalization and not just a thought.   
  
Either way, he knew that was an undeniable fact. Jennifer Fratello was one of  
the most beautiful, intelligent, and bewitching women he'd ever seen, much   
less had the pleasure of loving. It had amazed him when he'd been with Tessa,  
to have a woman like that as his, but it stupified him why Jennifer stayed.   
Bewildered him as to what he could have possibly done to deserve her by his   
side.   
  
Jennifer shifted in her sleep, sighing softly, drawing attention to the   
luminous quality of her skin. Beneath the moonlight it fairly glowed.  
  
Watching her, Duncan couldn't help but reach out and carefully brush a lock   
of hair away from her face as a wave of sudden tenderness swept over him. He  
wondered, idly, if perhaps Jennifer's fearsome mental abilities had some how  
managed to bewitch him, it seemed as if there was no other explanation for the  
powerful, magnetic, force that drew him to her. It was as if she exhuded her  
own gravity and pulled him into an orbit around her. Ever closer and ever   
nearer. He couldn't have escaped her if he'd tried. If he'd wanted to.  
  
He could still remember the day he'd seen her. At the university. Jennifer   
was working at the biggest museum in Seacouver as a curator and had agreed to  
teach a course for a friend at the university. He'd walked into the library   
to find her on a ladder, searching through books, mumbling to herself.   
  
Instantly he'd been captivated. It was something he'd teased her about   
mercilessly ever since; how adorable she'd looked. Completely scattered in her  
own thoughts, unaware that her precarious position on the ladder had been both  
innocently tempting and delightfully endearing.   
  
Duncan wasn't sure how long he'd stood there watching her. She'd been so caught  
up in her own concerns that she hadn't even noticed his presence and he'd been  
grateful for that. It was those first few moments of observation that had told  
him Jennifer Fratello was a woman he wanted to get to know very well. It had  
been a realization that had shocked him. After Tessa's death he'd taken solace  
in old relationships and old lovers, like Amanda, but he hadn't even considered  
seeking out a new lover. Much less another mortal yet there it was. The thought  
teasing at him like chocolate teased anyone who saw it.   
  
It had been then that the wobbly ladder had decided to betray Jennifer, rocking  
dangerously. She'd tried to steady herself but her shoe's heel got caught in  
the ladder and she'd tumbled backwards; unable to stop her fall.  
  
Moving faster than he'd thought he could, Duncan'd found himself beneath the  
falling woman - catching her just in time.   
  
The scared woman had lifted startled eyes to his and the connection had been  
instant, tangible in a way he'd never felt before.   
  
She hadn't told him then, but Jennifer'd had a vision. Seen him for what he   
was. Clairvoyance meant clear-seeing and she'd seen the truth of Duncan MacLeod's  
life as clearly as she'd seen his face. She'd seen it yet she said nothing. Kept  
it to herself. She'd hoarded it like the most precious of secrets, even when   
they'd begun seeing each other she'd said nothing. Oh she'd given him plenty   
of knowing looks. Looks that unnerved him as they seemed to be able to look   
past any deception and any illusion to find the truth; stripping away layers  
to see his soul but never once did she say anything.  
  
She'd bided her time. Waited for him to explain it to her. He hadn't planned  
on it, he still believed that in some indirect way Tessa's death had been a  
result of her knowledge of his Immortality and of the Game. It was a mistake  
he hadn't wanted to make twice but, in the end. How could he deny her that   
truth?  
  
He'd told her when they'd decided Jennifer would move in with him. He knew   
Immortals would eventually find him and he hadn't wanted her to be caught   
unawares.  
  
The moment he'd begun his explanation, she'd reached out and laid a gentle   
finger on his lips, saying simply, "I know Duncan. I know about you, about   
what you are, and I don't care. I want to be here and I'll take any risk to   
stay."  
  
She hadn't let him respond, instead she'd kissed him a way that had left no  
confusion as to the meaning of her words.   
  
In retrospect he wondered why he hadn't realized she probably already knew.  
Jennifer had made no attempt to hide her abilities from him. She'd recognized  
the intense connection between them before he had and trusted it implicitly.   
Her faith in him was unshaking and that awed him. The passionate furvor of her  
belief shook him and reminded him constantly why he loved her so.  
  
Tessa had believed in him like that...but there was something about the   
unwavering belief Jennifer demonstrated that went beyond that. They were   
different women and he wouldn't compare them but at the same time, he treasured  
the blessing that was the woman beside him. Treasured and refused to let go.  
  
Jennifer questioned him at times. She hadn't put blinders on, not for a moment.  
She knew his faults and knew his frailties and loved him anyway. He didn't have  
to be Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, the unflagging champion of all that  
was right and good in the world. With Jennifer he could just be Mac. She saw   
him for who he was and accepted it. With her, love wasn't blind. It was all-  
seeing and all-accepting.   
  
Some things she struggled with, fought with, but in the end she always   
understood, always accepted. She wasn't perfect by any stretch of the   
imagination but he couldn't help seeing her that way. It was his way. He knew  
she wasn't perfect just as she knew he wasn't and, just like she did, he   
adored her for it.   
  
And he always would.  
  
Settling down next to her, Duncan smiled as she instinctively snuggled closer.   
  
He'd make breakfast for her in the morning.   
  
For all that Jennifer had given him, she deserved a little pampering. She   
deserved so much more and he would try to give her all that she deserved and  
beyond but first...he'd start with breakfast.  
  
She was adorable when she first woke up...  
  
But then, she was adorable all the time.   
  
With a soft chuckle, he let his eyes close.  
  
He had it bad....  
  
And that was good.  
  
Very, very, good.  
  
Finis 


End file.
